Crème de la Mer: All Buck And No Bang?

Filed Under: Beauty Buzz

We're sure you've all heard of Crème de la Mer, the fabled "miracle" skin cream. A celebrity favorite, the luxe cream charges its customers a whopping $745 for just 8.5 ounces of the anti-aging potion. Now, reports are surfacing that the cream might not be worth its eyebrow-raising price.

The Daily Mail went on a mission to discover just what made Crème de la Mer worthy of its hefty pricetag, and the results might be pretty upsetting for anyone who's shelled out for the allegedly magical goods.

Under European law, cosmetic companies are required to provide a full list their products' ingredients in each product's packaging. With Crème, many of the ingredients, like petrolatum, glycerine, and eucalyptus leaf oil, are available for cheap at local beauty supply stores or online. Others are more difficult to find, but are still available for purchase to the public.

Using this knowledge, experienced cosmetic chemist Will Buchanan weighed in on the matter to figure out exactly what makes Crème de la Mer so supposedly special. Based on his well-earned knowledge, Buchanan estimates that the ingredients for an 8.5-oz jar ofCrème costs just $39.60 to make. That leaves the company with an unaccounted for $705.40!

Buchanan says,

"This is a variation on a basic water-in-oil formula. What I've done is, of course, only an estimate. To give the benefit of the doubt, I've been very generous in my pricing of the sea kelp, which is the main ingredient. Ultimately, of course, only the manufacturers know exactly what the recipe is, and how much their ingredients cost."

Still, the estimate leaves a pretty big margin between ingredient and retail cost. Buchanan also notes, however, that more goes into the cost of production than just the ingredients:

"Looking at the raw ingredients doesn't take into account the cost of manufacturing or packaging. Or the costs of transport, marketing, and PR, all of which, of course, you're paying for when you shell out for skincare."

Crème de la Mer is made by Estee Lauder, which claims that the formula was developed in the 1970s by NASA scientist Dr. Max Huber. According to legend, Huber, an aerospace physicist, was seriously wounded in a rocket fuel experiment gone wrong, which left him with severe burns on his hands and face. Subsequently, the scientist set out on a 12-year quest to develop a remedy that would reduce his visible scarring.

The result was an complex process which used Sonar and, according to the cream's website, "the art of bio-fermentation…. Just as Dr. Huber hoped, skin appeared dramatically smoother and miraculously improved. Even the driest of complexions were soothed on contact."

Maureen Case, global president of Crème, notes that since sea kelp is a major component, "the cost reflects not only the raw materials but also the costs of helping maintain the ecosystem from which it comes by harvesting sustainably." What's more, she insists that the process is labor intensive and requires knowledge and an experienced hand.

This is all good and well, but all the hype seems to be coming from the brand itself, not from reviews or clinical trials. That's probably because there are none; Estee Lauder has never conducted a trial for Crème to prove that there's any bite to their bark.

Paula Begoun, renowned product reviewer, says that,

"It's just a really dated formula. Something straight out of the 70s. Product formulations have become much more sophisticated since then. Estee Lauder itself has gone on to develop skincare that is far better than Crème de la Mer, and doesn't cost as much…. As enticing as this dramatic story sounds, the reality is that this very basic cream doesn't contain anything particularly extraordinary or unique."

We were always skeptical about Crème de la Mer - seemed like a lot of smoke and mirrors to us. Still, some stars swear by it.

What do you think?

As for us, we'll stick with our cheap-o moisturizer and save the seven hundo for something else!

[Image courtesy of Estee Lauder.]

Posted: January 15, 2010 at 10:00 am